Need for Domestic Manufacturing of Smartphones, a step towards Self-Reliant India: PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry

‘In the upcoming years there is a huge opportunity for India by creating, sourcing, making and exporting Smartphone from India, shared Sanmeet Kochhar, Vice President, HMD Global in a session organized by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry on ‘Challenges and Opportunities for Smartphone Industry post COVID-19’.

Sanmeet Kochhar mentioned that with a decline in the world GDP, according to reports the worldwide Smartphone market has suffered the largest decline year-on-year. Talking about the challenges and opportunities, he discussed that there is a need for secure enterprise mobility.

According to many studies, 2021 will rebound with 6% YoY growth in Smartphones, and looking at the present times, there is an increase in the usage time of Smartphone. Value-added services like insurance, extended warranty, or things that help to build value in their purchase are expected to increase in the upcoming years, deliberated by Kochhar.

Sunil Joon, Vice President & Chief Product Officer, Micromax Informatics Ltd, while giving an industry perspective mentioned that there is a decline in the shipments due to COVID and an increase in the online channel of smartphones, which is also expected to grow at a much faster pace.

He mentioned that due to COVID-19, consumers have increased their buying on online channels. The consumer services on these online channels have generated stickiness in their consumer’s minds. Due to this, the presence of online channels has been registered in remote and rural areas as well. He also said that looking at the present market trends, there is a need for a fresh perspective for sales and distribution in the offline market.

Talking about the future growth prospects of the industry, he said that this is a highly resilient industry. Also, with the emergence of digital learning and remote working, this industry has increased its users. Now, this industry needs to look at affordability for driving the market along with more user-friendly features.

Sanjay Aggarwal, Senior Vice President, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, deliberated about the growing need for the strong telecom network in the times of the pandemic to stay connected with each other. He discussed that while there are a lot of challenges in this industry to cater to; there is a pool of opportunities as well which makes this sector one of the pivotal sectors for the growth of the economy. He also discussed the rise in the usage of smartphones which offers multiple user-friendly features, is portable, and comes at affordable prices.

Aggarwal also highlighted that due to COVID-19, one of the challenges the Smartphone industry is facing is on the manufacturing side. Therefore, there is a need to amplify the domestic manufacturing and production of smartphones which will help to expand the market and increase the ability to adapt the technology, leading to the growth of the economy and a move towards a Self-Reliant India.

Sandeep Aggarwal, Chairman, Telecom Committee, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, while giving a background of the mobile industry, highlighted that India has the capability to manufacture smartphones in India and Government is encouraging domestic manufacturing in a significant manner with robust notifications. He discussed that during and post-pandemic, there is will be a significant shortage in the spare parts due to international manufacturing disruption. He hopes that with the diligent efforts of the Indian Government, the Smartphone industry amplifies its manufacturing growth and makes this industry Self-Reliant.

Saurabh Sanyal, Secretary-General, PHD Chamber, in his formal vote of thanks deliberated that Covid-19 has accelerated the pace of technology adoption across the country and allowed many useful apps, making Smartphone an integral part of lives. He discussed that Indian brands can benefit from the Make in India and Digital India initiatives from the government to take control of manufacturing rather than depending on outside ODMs to design and manufacture their products. He highlighted that the Indian market for smartphones needs innovation and investment in R&D, building in-house capability with a greater possibility of localization, quality control and differentiation.

The session was moderated by Dr. Yogesh Srivastav, Principal Director, PHD Chamber, and was supported by Paramount Communications Limited, and was successfully attended by the industry stalwarts.